I just completed a training at NCNM and what I learned is that there ARE other people in the community who are impassioned about social justice. Sometimes, when I'm walking down the street, and the people around me are completely closed off from each other, I wonder. I feel good every time that I am the one to stop and ask if someone is OK, offer a hand with something, or otherwise step up to be part of the kinder gentler world that civilization is supposed to bring.

I feel our common humanity more deeply than I fear our external differences. I do not care what color you are, or what you think is sexy, or which religion you think is the right one. What I care about is joy.

So presume only that I will take you as another human, doing the best you can. I hope you will see that I am no different.

What I hear is that most everybody in America is frustrated about healthcare. Maybe you have good insurance, but then the doctor doesn't listen, or the treatment doesn't work. Maybe you're on pills and don't know what they're for. Maybe you don't have insurance and flat out can't afford to get help. Maybe you think something's wrong but don't want to confirm it because then you'd have to deal with it. We all worry, and it's not easy to sort out what to do. Doctor Google can be misleading, and sometimes terrifying. The assortment of supplements at the store is overwhelming. Everybody thinks they know what will help you, but they don't know your whole story. They don't know the half of it. It's not an easy situation.

I offer a win-win deal: I will take a thorough history and get to know you enough to have an idea how the parts of your life are affecting you. Then I educate you about your options, including alternative and conventional therapies. In the end, using real information you choose what you want to do. Conventional medicine is the best answer for some situations and conditions. Naturopathic medicine helps as long as you are willing to do more than pop pills and sit on the couch. If I can't help you, I will help you find someone who can. I consider it my job to provide you with current, personalized, unbiased information, not to keep you a slave to some treatment that only I can offer.

My personal slant is scientific. I realize that many people consider Naturopathy to be quite "alternative". Considering what has happened with pharmaceutical medicine, an alternative is much needed. Naturopathic Medicine (as I use it) is a combination of traditional healing (forgotten in the age of pharmaceuticals) and the application of new knowledge about how our choices affect body function and healing. Conventional medicine is not keeping up with the changing times. A simple change in your diet or lifestyle could do you more good than a drug that you take for the rest of your life (and save you a gazillion dollars). Making informed, gradual improvements to your diet and lifestyle will save you money, increase your quality of life, and help you stay away from the doctor, the pharmacy, and the hospital.

If you are one of those skeptics who has avoided alternative medicine because you don't think naturopaths have any real training, come see me for a free 15 minute introduction. I would like to tell you how a science-minded skeptic like myself can embrace Naturopathy. I can show you some of the great research that supports nonpharmaceutical and nonsurgical approaches to health. There's plenty of it.

There are plenty of reasons to seek alternatives when facing the gauntlet of what insurance will buy for your health. It's not cheating to get a second, or third opinion about any persistent health problem. Before you take the toxin, or submit to the knife, it is wise to be sure that is what you need to do.

Speaking of mixed feelings.... I learned today that the penalty for not participating will be $95. That's only $15 more than a Portland Parking ticket. Of course, there is the possibility that decent care might result from being covered within this system. But not necessarily. I have a deep distrust, and dislike, of health insurance and what it has done to healthcare in America. Mandating health insurance is... un-American. Letting health insurance control what care is given and to whom is no better than socialized medicine. It simply puts the power in the hands of megacorporations that are already mixed up with our government. And it requires that everyone's personal health information go into an electronic medical record, supposedly to improve care, but potentially useful for other projects. If the government would decide what care to provide based on what has the best outcomes for the most people, I would be less opposed to that. It's not a simple situation, that much is for certain. The best answer is just as the bumpersticker says: don't get sick.

Every year the Environmental Working Group tests fruit and vegetables from grocery stores and comes up with their list of the most pesticide-contaminated foods. This year's list is almost entirely food that I personally eat, so I am very glad that we are growing a lot of them in our home garden. The spinach overwintered and came up on its own! But for the foods that are on the list, which we don't grow, I plan to buy organic. I would recommend that you do, too. Only by voting with our dollars can we change the market. Without further ado, the dirty dozen:

1. Apples (99% of apples tested were contaminated)2. Strawberries (these are bad because it goes in the pores and you can't wash or soak it off)3. Grapes (one grape tested positive for 15 different pesticides)4. Celery5. Peaches6. Spinach7. Bell Peppers8. Nectarines9. Cucumbers10. Potatoes11. Cherry Tomatoes12. Hot Peppers (looks like they lumped a lot of kinds of peppers together)

Ronnie Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association has written an insightful article about the perfect storm of environmental and cultural challenges that face us. His solution: start growing veggies! He has a few other suggestions too. For those who would like to save the world, this is a worthwhile read.

I just heard that the FDA is planning to restrict the distribution of injectable vitamin C, such that we may not be able to provide this valuable nutrient in standard IV therapy anymore. This would be a terrible loss if it were to come to pass. Please have your say to the FDA at this site, if you'd like to have the option of intravenous vitamin C if you need it: http://www.anh-usa.org/action-alert-now-the-fda-is-going-after-vitamin-c/ .Many thanks,Teresa